Illinois Senate passes gun bills, participates in walk out

Wednesday

Mar 14, 2018 at 11:48 AMMar 14, 2018 at 9:46 PM

Brenden Moore @brendenmoore13Maximilian Kwiatkowski @MSFKWIAT

The Illinois Senate passed a series of gun control measures in quick order Wednesday just hours after members walked out of the Capitol in solidarity with high school students around the country protesting gun violence.

The actions come a day following Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a bill that would have required the state to license gun shops. Rauner said that legislation created “unnecessary, burdensome regulation,” instead calling for creating a bipartisan working group to explore ways to improve public safety rather than just focus on guns.

Notably, the Senate did not take up a veto override on the gun licensing bill. According to state Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, the governor’s office has not yet sent the paperwork back to the Senate, so a vote will will not be taken until the body returns in April.

But Senate Democrats still kept the pressure on Rauner, sending to his desk House Bill 1468, which would mandate a 72-hour waiting period following the purchase of an assault weapon. It passed 43-15.

Another pair of bills passed with amendments, meaning they head back to the House before they can hit the governor’s desk.

The first, HB 1467, would ban bump stocks and trigger cranks, passed 37-16. An attached amendment also would allow municipalities to enact tougher assault weapons measures than state law.

The second and perhaps most controversial legislation, HB 1465, which would raise the age a person can buy an assault weapon from 18 to 21, passed 33-22.

Though some Senate Republicans joined Democrats to support the bills, they questioned the process being used, pointing to several Republican gun bills in committee. They also questioned the motivation behind the timing of voting on bills ahead of next week’s primary election.

“(Democrats) have the opportunity to bring proposals out that Republicans and Democrats can support, including the much-hailed bump stock ban,” said state Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon. “But you choose to instead put (in) language that is a poison pill, which leads the objective observer more and more and more to the conclusion that you don’t really want bipartisan compromise on these issues.”

Sen. Chris Nybo, R-Elmhurst, who spoke earlier in the day at the walkout, questioned whether Democrats were looking to pass laws or simply pass bills for the sake of passing bills.

Senate Democrats pointed to the February shooting in Parkland, Florida, as a reason to act now on gun control bills while the issue has momentum.

“I’m not naive that this tragedy has inspired folks on the other side of the aisle who did not introduce such legislation in previous years …,” said state Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago. “So it’s not about a primary. It’s about a window of opportunity to act because some people would not act but for that tragedy.”

Democrats acknowledged the bills passed are not perfect, but the sense of urgency outweighed potential mistakes that could be later amended.

“I ask that we decide that maybe it’s not perfect, but maybe not perfect is good enough today,” said state Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake. “Anything that we do today, we can make changes if we go a little further than maybe some of us would like if we make some mistakes. But I ask you again to think about the students in Parkland, to think about others that have lost their lives. They don’t get another chance.”

Before the votes, more than a dozen senators walked out of the Capitol in support of the nationwide student walkout to call attention to gun violence in the United States.

The senators gathered in front of the Capitol’s Abraham Lincoln statue as they held pictures of the 17 victims at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, speaking briefly about their lives and how some saved their classmates or students. Chicago Police Cmdr. Paul Bauer, who was shot outside the Thompson Center last month, also was remembered.

Senators also held a three-minute moment of silence for those who have died in Illinois due to guns.

Bush said the demonstration was not about lecturing the public about guns, but to remember those who had died and and act in solidarity with those walking out in Illinois and around the country.

“We want the message really to be to those students in Illinois that are walking out that we walked out with them, that we stand with them, that we hear them,” Bush said. “We know that they are young adults and that they are the future of this state and this country. And their voices are so important.”

Talking to reporters after the Prairie Farmer’s 2018 Master Farmer Awards Luncheon in Springfield, Rauner said the student walkout was a “very appropriate” way “to honor the memory of the victims of the horrible shooting in Parkland, Florida.” He also outlined some steps his administration is taking to curb gun violence.

“This morning, while that was occurring, I was meeting with our Illinois State Police going over our plans to create an interstate crime prevention network of cooperation across state borders to try and stem the flow of illegal guns across state borders,” Rauner said.

Rauner said he was scheduled to meet with the legislative leaders regarding his public safety task force, which he hopes will produce a package of proposals.

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